San Antonio Spurs

[juan penduko]

---

evenstar, san antonio fans jud dai ka ha. hahaha. ok ra to gahapon. gibigay raman to. kai maluya man mau ang lakers if ma pildi napud sila. pabuhi rato sa ila dugo. hahaha. nice try lakers. GO SPURS GO. its just our time. 2009 bya karn odd number. hahahha BEAT LA. BEAT LA.

[kamikaze426]

Houston ugma..

[jasonrey]

Spurs win against Rockets

San Antonio 88
Houston 85

[boski]

17 straight points from duncan and parker

[tackielarla]

From the Spurs forum...

Following the potentially demoralizing loss against the Lakers, the Spurs headed to Houston to face the Rockets. In typical fashion, the Spurs and Rockets battled in a low scoring affair featuring plenty of defense and physicality. When the smoke cleared, San Antonio had escaped with an 88-85 victory.

Although it was far from pretty basketball, the Spurs made the big plays when they were needed and found a way to win. Considering how well Houston has played at home and how well they have played without Tracy McGrady, this victory was actually one of the sweeter wins of the year.

As far as the Rockets are concerned, they are playing better defense and exhibit improved team basketball without McGrady. Trading away Rafer Alston hurts them a bit in their matchup against the Spurs, but there's no question that a Rockets team with a healthy Yao Ming is going to be a tough opponent for anyone in the postseason.

Overall, the Spurs have to be very happy with the win. They didn't get any fantastic individual performances but the Spurs played the type of rugged basketball that has been the staple of this franchise for the last dozen years.

-Tim Duncan struggled with his shot early on and didn't play too well on either end in the opening half, however he came on strong in the final two quarters and ended up playing a good game. Compared to how he looked against the Lakers, I thought his mobility was much better and he was able to hold his ground on contact. He's obviously still hampered by injury but at least this outing seemed to be a step in the right direction. Down the stretch of the game, he made a few key shots, delivered timely passes and his post defense against Yao was excellent.

-Tony Parker didn't get anything easy against the Rockets but withstood the challenge and keyed the victory late in the fourth. If he wasn't scoring the ball late, he was applying good defensive pressure on the other end. To begin the ballgame, I thought Parker's defense was lazy in terms of closing out on shooters but his intensity got better in that area as the contest progressed. All in all, it was another All-Star level performance from Parker.

-Michael Finley continued his very good play as he scored 17 points on five three-pointers against Houston. He was hitting threes from all over the court including a heave from halfcourt at the third quarter buzzer. Defensively, Finley was active - both on the ball and in help defense. He also helped on the boards and ran the court extremely well. In terms of his athleticism, he has turned back the clock in his last two outings.

-Roger Mason, Jr. had an extremely quiet game. He only got three shots in 30 minutes and only handed out one assist. The Rockets did a good job of not giving him any open looks and made life difficult for him when he was running the point. On the defensive end, Mason didn't play too well. He reached a lot and lost contact with his man on numerous occasions.

-I've been complaining about Matt Bonner's rebounding, so first I have to tip my cap to his ten boards in 29 minutes of work. He did a very good job of battling on the glass and continued to give effort even when he appeared to be boxed out. Offensively, he hasn't been the same since the news broke that Drew Gooden was coming on board. He hit only one of his six attempts and none of his shots looked very confident.

-Ime Udoka led the Spurs in bench minutes and he did commendable work against Ron Artest. Udoka is the one perimeter player on the Spurs who Artest can't bully. Although his stat line doesn't appear to be overly impressive, Udoka definitely gave the Spurs quality minutes. For the first time this season, it appears as if he has settled in and has figured out how he can help the team.

-Kurt Thomas is another player who had a minimal statistical impact despite his very good play. He was extremely physical in the low block and his defense in the paint was vital, especially considering how tough the Rockets were playing. On the whole, Thomas just keeps giving the Spurs good minutes on a nightly basis.

-Showing exactly why the Spurs went after him, Drew Gooden was impressive in his 15 minutes of action. The 13 points he scored helped keep the offense flowing when the bench unit was in the game. His repertoire on the offensive end was impressive, scoring with a variety of hooks, up-and-unders and drives into the lane. I was also pleasantly surprised by his passing and his overall understanding of what the Spurs were trying to do offensively. His defense still needs work but he was mentally engaged the entire time, which hasn't been the case with Gooden over the years. The best case scenario in which Gooden comes to San Antonio and plays serious and dedicated basketball appears to have a chance of becoming reality.

-George Hill once again supplied big plays from the shooting guard position. His defense was very good and he wasn't a liability on the offensive end. The aggression and fearlessness he's playing with right now is much needed with Manu Ginobili not being able to suit up. Following his demotion, Hill has responded about as well as possible.

-An interesting note is that Bruce Bowen played only the last four seconds of the game. He was one Houston timeout away from recording his first DNP-CD in his Spurs career.

-I though Pop coached a very good game. I especially liked how he utilized Gooden. Pop milked Gooden during his minutes on the court by calling numerous plays for him. As a result, Gooden was able to help buy enough time for Duncan and Parker to rest. I don't think Gooden is a player you want to have deciding the ultimate outcome late in the contest but during the meat of the game, he could be a valuable asset if Pop continues to use him correctly. Pop's rotations, which have been erratic as of late, actually made sense against the Rockets.

Good win. Important in the standings. Perhaps even more important in terms of getting the Lakers loss in the past. On to Oklahoma City on Monday.

Believe.

[tackielarla]

Can The Spurs Beat L.A. In A Seven-Game Series?
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

You still have to give the Lakers a big edge. I don't think there's any question about that.

They've been the class of the West, and even without Bynum, they probably have the edge. But I've believed all season long and before the season started that the Spurs were the one team that could keep the Lakers out of the Finals.

The biggest issue for San Antonio is health. Manu's latest injury is to his other foot, the one he didn't have offseason surgery on. Duncan had to miss a few games because of his knee. I got to visit him recently and he basically said, "I'm not 100 percent, I know I'm not going to be 100 percent the rest of the year, so I'm going to have to deal with it."

So as well as Parker's playing, Duncan and Ginobili are not going to be 100 percent come the playoffs. So the question is, are they going to be healthy enough to do what they need to do?

It was clear last year. For the Lakers to win that series in five games, Ginobili was probably 50 percent efficiency, or maybe even less. That's how badly he was hurting.

The good thing for the Spurs is they're much deeper than they've been in the past. They're getting production now from Mason, who's really been the best free-agent addition that anyone has made; Bonner; even George Hill, the rookie, has made some contributions. And if they can get Gooden healthy, that was a really nice pickup, because they didn't have another low-post presence that can ease the load on Duncan.

If everyone is healthy or close to it, they probably have the deepest crew they've had maybe in the Duncan era. You can make that case.

The problem is the Lakers are deeper and better, too. Last year, the Lakers didn't have Ariza making the contributions we've seen from him this season. So even without Bynum, you have to make the Lakers the favorite in that series. We'll see if the Spurs' experience can even things out.

[tackielarla]

W-L
1. LA Lakers 53-13
2. San Antonio 44-21
3. Houston 43-25
4. Denver 42-25
5. New Orleans 41-24
6. Portland 41-25
7. Utah 41-26
8. Dallas 40-27

With Utah, Portland, and Dallas all losing today, we have gotten just a little more breathing room now in the West standings...especially with that huge win last night against Houston after losing to the Lakers.

Utah, please get out of the #7 seed!

[Onins]

mayta mao na ang final na standing hehe. pinatyanay jud ang utah ug spurs ana then houston sunod kontrahon hehe abot WCF, bun-og na.

[tackielarla]

Murag mudaog pa ang Dallas bai nya ang Utah muubos to #8 para ninyo.

[depechebox]

hahaha gi under estimate ninyo ang Dallas.. mataghapan gani mo sa Dallas